Extract AUST today: TAXPAYER-FUNDED COAL COMPO DEAL KEPT SECRET...

Extract AUST today:
TAXPAYER-FUNDED COAL COMPO DEAL KEPT SECRET
ENERGY
Details of a taxpayer-funded compensation deal for coal-fired energy stations were excluded from Tuesday’s budget because of “commercial sensitivities”.
Under the deal, coal companies are being reimbursed for revenue losses incurred during the commonwealth’s year-long domestic coal price cap.
Designed to shield consumers from rising power prices, the market intervention capped the price of coal used for electricity at $125 a tonne and hoped to save households about $230 on their power bills.
Rio Tinto’s Gladstone Power Station in central Queensland and NSW generators with coal supply contracts above the $125 a tonne price cap, are being reimbursed the difference.
Federal bureaucrats have estimated the total compensation bill would reach between $1.5bn and $2bn, split 50-50 between the federal and state governments.
The budget papers excluded any details of the deal, citing “commercial sensitivities”.
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